Fake Apple smartphones, touted as "latest iPhone 5", attracted the attention of Chinese officials in Fuzhou, who went on to seize 61 such devices after it was determined they violated Cupertino's trademark.

Chinese news agency Xinhua reported on Monday that the law enforcement officers were conducting surprise inspection of shops when they discovered a batch of fake iPhone 5 mobile phones. These devices, labeled "the latest iPhone 5", were fitted with features such as "dual SIM and dual standby" and GPS navigation and priced at 300 RMB (US$47). The officers subsequently seized 61 of these devices, which were deemed to have contravened Apple's trademark.

According to Xinhua, the phone dealer selling the devices told the officers that the handset is the "latest and most excellent" of iPhones. It also noted that the casing material, texture and operating system were closely modeled after Apple's smartphone designs--with the American company's logo printed on the back of the device--and had "90 percent similarity".

The dealer said the mobile phone originated from Shenzhen. However, upon detailed inspection of the handset, the officers discovered that there was no indication of the manufacturer or the original mobile phone's network access license label on the phone and the packing box.

This report comes on the heels of two fake Apple stores in Kunming that were ordered to shut down in July. The shops were found to have lacked proper business licenses, according to an earlier ZDNet Asia report.

The only journalist in the team without a Western name, Yun Qing hails from the mountainy Malaysian state, Sabah. She currently covers the hardware and networking beats, as well as everything else that falls into her lap, at ZDNet Asia. Her RSS feed includes tech news sites and most of the Cheezburger network. She is also a cheapskate mas...
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